A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



century the government seems to have been modified 

 in form. The ancient usages of the town, which 

 apparently belong to the latter end of the century, 

 were drawn up by the mayor and one bailiff. 177 The 

 mayor evidently succeeded the reeve, and in 1323 

 definite mention is made of the mayor and bailiffs. 178 

 Subsequently the importance of the mayor's office 

 increased, while the bailiffs gradually lost their autho- 

 rity. In a deed of sale of a stall or shop in the 

 market dated 1450 the rent was said to be paid to 

 the king by the hands of the bailiffs, but only one 

 bailiff witnessed the deed, 179 and only one is recorded 

 as accounting for the farm of the town in 1443."" 

 In 1521 the bailiff of Portsmouth gave a detailed 

 account of a suspicious character lately seen near 

 Havant, 181 and on 28 April, 1538, when Thomas 

 Carpenter was mayor, Thomas Yonge, bailiff of the 

 town, evidently had full authority over the watchmen 

 and constables there. 18 ' Unfortunately, owing to the 

 loss or destruction of the corporation records for the 

 sixteenth century, there is no clue to the time when 

 the bailiffs office lapsed, 183 but apparently it was in 

 disuse before 1600, the date of Queen Elizabeth's 

 charter to the town. The ancient usages of the 

 town state that the bailiff received one-half of the 

 surplus of any fine which exceeded 24;. and \zJ. in 

 every pound recovered in the borough court, besides 

 6s. &V. fine for drawing a weapon, and 6<j. for blood- 

 shed in the case of any frays in the town. From the 

 first the mayor seems to have been chosen by the 

 burgesses from among themselves. 184 The election 

 took place on the Monday preceding Michaelmas 

 Day, 185 a custom which continued till 1627, when, 

 under the charter of Charles I, it was altered to the 

 Monday week before that feast. In 1835 the day of 

 election was again changed to 9 November. Before 

 this time the mayor had been sworn into office on the 

 Michaelmas Day after his election. Under Elizabeth's 

 charter he was to be chosen from among the senior 

 and better burgesses, and by the charter of 1627 

 it was ordained that he should be chosen by the 

 majority of the aldermen and burgesses from the 

 aldermen. By the Municipal Corporations Act of 

 1835 the election was vested in the borough council, 

 i.e. the mayor, aldermen, and councillors. His duties 

 necessitate residence within the borough limits. 186 

 Under the charter of Charles I the mayor was 

 removable at the will of the aldermen, and so con- 

 tinued till 1835, except during the few years that 

 the charter of Charles II was in force, when 

 he might have been removed by the royal sign 

 manual, as has been before pointed out. During the 

 bitter political struggle between the Whig and Tory 

 aldermen Henry Seagar, who had been chosen 

 mayor by one party, was ousted under a mandamus 

 from the Queen's Bench in 1711, as having been 

 unduly elected. 187 Again, at the latter end of the 

 same century party feeling was so strong that for 

 three years the mayoralty was in dispute. 188 In 

 October, 1779, John Carter was elected by the Whig 

 party, Edward Linzee, who had been chosen in the 



preceding September, not having appeared to be 

 sworn. Carter was ousted in the following January, 

 and John Godwin, who took his place, resigned in 

 May, so that from that time till Michaelmas, 1780, 

 there was no mayor at all in the town, and during a 

 whole year no justices nor minor officials were 

 sworn. 189 Early in the seventeenth century there were 

 evidently objections raised to the choice of members 

 of the garrison as mayor, for William Winter at his 

 election in 1635 renounced his position in the gar- 

 rison and promised ' hereafter to be none of their 

 company.' 19 In the case of Benjamin Johnson, a 

 storekeeper who was chosen mayor in 1665, a deputy 

 fulfilled the greater part of his functions, though he 

 attended the more important councils, e.g. to consult 

 as to the prevention of the plague. 191 He refused to 

 relinquish office, saying that only the king and council 

 could remove him, 198 and in spite of definite orders to 

 the contrary several officers in the docks were chosen 

 mayor, for in the words of a letter addressed to 

 Samuel Pepys, ' the king had as good as taken away 

 the charter from the town as prohibit his officers from 

 being magistrates.' 19S 



The appointment of a deputy mayor in case of the 

 mayor's sickness or any other reasonable cause of 

 absence was provided for in the charter of Charles I. 

 The deputy was to be one of the aldermen and was 

 chosen by the mayor himself. 



As the office of bailiff became extinct, it devolved upon 

 the mayor to preside over the court leet and view of 

 frankpledge in the town. In the charter of Charles I 

 it is stated that either the mayor or the recorder 

 must be present at these and at the court of record. 

 The charter of Elizabeth provided that he should be 

 ex qfficio a justice of the peace, and, with the common 

 clerk, should hear and seal recognizances of debt. 



The mayor's hospitality consisted mainly in great 

 banquets oa special occasions. At first he was bound 

 to provide two grand feasts at the time of the sessions 

 and one on the Friday following, together with other 

 banquets on election days and Michaelmas Day, and a 

 piece of roast beef on Christmas Day, Easter Day, and 

 Whitsunday. Late in the seventeenth century the 

 mayor's salary having been reduced by 10 to increase 

 the fund for paving the town, one of these feasts was 

 abolished; and in 1681, when the town was burdened 

 with the costs of a suit concerning the elections, the 

 two grand feasts of the session were excused. 194 



At first there was no definite allowance due to the 

 mayor from the corporation funds, but he had certain 

 perquisites, e.g. two bushels of wheat from every 

 boat-load brought into port, 195 and certain amercements 

 at law days and courts, 196 the latter privilege being 

 evidently a survival of the old custom which allowed 

 the bailiff izd. in every pound recovered in the 

 court. 197 In 1543 these amercements were commuted 

 for an annual payment to be settled at the election of 

 the mayor. 198 Latterly the amount assigned to him 

 yearly was 30, but late in the seventeenth century this 

 was reduced to 20, and in 1671 this was changed for 

 the use of the butchers' shambles and the loft above 



W Extract! from the Portsmouth Rtc. I. 

 l? 8 Cal. Close, 1323-7, p. 138. 

 "'Add. Chart. 15855. 



180 Mins. Accts. bdle. 1280, No. 6. 



181 L. and P. Hen. VIII, Hi, 1256. 



182 Ibid, xiii (i), 859. 



1 83 In those election books for this 

 period which have been printed in Extracts 



from the Portsmouth Rec. 9 no mention is 

 made of the election of a bailiff. 



I 84 Extracts from the Portsmouth Rec, 

 150. In 1598 the majority of the bur- 

 gesses elected the new mayor. 



I 86 Extracts from the Portsmouth Rtc. I. 



i 86 Ibid. 241. 



W Ibid. 207, 210. 188 Ibid. 255. 



I 80 



189 Ibid. 244 et seq. 

 ""Ibid. 1 60. 



191 Cal. S. P. Dom. 1665-6, p. 316. 

 I'" Ibid. 308. l Ibid. 547. 



194 Extracts from the Portsmouth Rec, 6, 9. 

 196 Cat. ofS. P. Dom. 1651-2, p. 153. 

 196 Extracts from the Portsmouth Rec. 122. 

 W Ibid. 3. "8 Ibid. 122. 



